Corn-topper.



G. HILL.

CORN TOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19, 1914.

1,1 30,085, Patented Mar. 2,1915.

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GEORGE HILL, OF MIIJBOY, INDIANA.

CORN-TOFFEE.

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Application filed March 19, 1914.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE HILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milroy, Rush county, and State of Indiana, have invented and discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Corn Toppers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to corn toppers and its object is to provide a device for cutting off the tops of corn stalks while standing in the field, which shall be capable of being carried and readily operated by one hand of the user, and which shall be of simple construction and small cost. To these ends my invention is embodied in preferable form in the device hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In these drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device; Fig. 2, a front view in elevation, and Fig. 3, a top plan view.

Referring to the drawings, 1 are the cutting blades which are pivoted together by a pivot 2 at the rear ends of the blades. One of the blades overlaps the other and the two are adapted to cross with a shearing out, to sever the stalk, the inner longitudinal edges of the blades being sharpened.

Secured to the front end of each blade and extending at right angles to the face of the blade is an operating connecting and grip member 3, which may consist of a rod and which may be secured to the blade by suitable threads formed on the rod and nuts engaging said rod on either side of the blade; or other suitable fastening means may be employed. The lower parts of these rods are adapted to be grasped by the hand of the user when carrying and operating the device. These rods at their upper ends are inclined toward one another and overlap and are joined by a pivot pin 4. on which the rods are adapted to move inwardly and outwardly to close and open the blades. The rods and blades thus constitute a connected pivoted frame having only two pivotal points, which are at right angles to one another and which afiords an arrangement giving sufficient leverage on the blades to sever the stalks and yet in which a simple handle construction is provided.

The rods and blades are adapted to be pressed apart by a spring 5, which consists preferably of a single piece of'spring metal crossed in the center and then engaging the pivot 4:, and the lower ends of the limbs of the spring being bent into hooks 6, which Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Serial NO. 825,821.

engage the opposite rods 3, 3, and turn to press those members apart. Connected to the rods 3 below and above the blades are loop members 7, 7 preferably of flexible material and which are adapted to constitute the back guards and strain resisting means for the hand of the user.

In the operation of the device, the stalk or stalks are adapted to be held in one hand and passed between the separated ends of the blades, while the device is held in the other hand and then the blades are closed against the stalk, by pressing the gripping and connecting members 3, 3, toward one another, through the pressure of the hand inserted through the loop members and grasping the two members, the severed tops being collected, if desired, in the arm of the user, as he passes from hill to hill.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A. corn topper having cutting blades pivoted together adjacent one end of each blade and manually gripped and operating handle members secured to the other ends of said blades and extending at an angle with respect to the plane of the blades, said handle members being pivotally connected at the ends thereof opposite their connection to the blades, substantially as described.

2. A corn topper having blades pivoted together and adapted to overlap and move past one another with a shearing cut, carrying and gripping members connected to the respective blades at the ends thereof opposite to the pivot ends and extending substantially at right angles thereto, said members being pivotally connected at their outer ends, and a spring having means exerting opposing pressure against said carrying and gripping members to hold the blades separated, substantially as described.

3. A manually carried and operated corn topper having blades pivoted together at the ends thereof, angularly extending operating handle members connected respectively to opposite ends of said blades and pivoted together at their outer ends by a pivot extending at right angles to the blade pivot, a bent spring mounted on said handle member pivot and having limbs pressing against said members, substantially as described.

4. A manually carried and operated corn topper having pivoted shearing blades, an operating handle connected to each blade In Witness whereof,Ihavehereunto set my handand seal at Milroy, Rush county, 10 Indiana this 19th day of February, A. D. nineteen hundred and fourteen. V GEORGE HILL. [1]. s.] V

and extending substantially at a right angle to the face thereof, said handles ,connectedat their outer ends by a ipivotextending sub stantially at right angles to the first pivot loop members on said handle members to reeeivethehandnf the user, anda spring, Witnesses: pressingsaidhandlemembers, substantially LEE HUME, as described. WiLBUR GJ BROWN.

Copies ofithil patenhmay be 'obtalnedl'or five cents each, by addressing the'Chmmissidner-ot1atentln I Washington, D. 0." j r e 

